JM Financial has upgraded Aurobindo Pharma to 'buy'price of Rs207 mainly due to attractive valuation post the recent stock correction.MUMBAI: Domestic organized pharma retail market crossed Rs 90,000 crore for the first time ever in cumulative sales, driven by a huge growth in sales of anti-diabetic drugs, dermatology and urology medicines. In July, the pharma retail market recorded a robust growth of nearly 13% of Rs 8,328 crore, adding Rs 1,019 crore over July 2014 — the highest incremental value for the month in the last three years.

Significantly, the growth is also the fastest witnessed in recent years — the market took over two years to move from the Rs 66,000 crore to the Rs 80,000 crore mark, while it crossed Rs 90,000 crore in lesser time. The market added Rs 11,258 crore in just a year (MAT June 2015 over MAT June 2014), as against Rs 11,851 crore recorded over a two-year period (MAT June 2014 over MAT June 2012), data culled from pharma research firm AIOCD AWACS said.

With the good performance in July, the pharma retail market has witnessed a continuous nine months of double-digit growth. During the month, among the top 10 companies, Lupin grew by 25% followed by Sun Pharma at 22% and Pfizer at 17% — domestic companies have grown at 12.6%, as against a higher growth of 13.8% for MNCs. Over the 12-month period, new players including Koye, Saffron Therapeutics, Arianna, Kepler Healthcare have emerged.

Among the top-selling medicines in July, Mixtard leads the pack with sales of Rs 42 crore, followed by Spasmoproxyvon Plus at Rs 30 crore and Glycomet-GP at Rs 28 crore. Cold and cough preparation Phensedyl Cough grew by 133%, followed by cough syrup Corex at 103%, diabetic drug Janumet at 93.4%, insulin drug Mixtard at 37.4%. The robust growth in July was attributed to nine therapies having outgrown the pharma market, with the anti-diabetic market growing at 25.4%, cardiac drugs at 17.1%, derma market at 19.4% and urology drugs at 18.6%.

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A bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V K Rao passed the order while acting on a PIL filed by Delhi-based dermatologist Zaheer Ahmed who complained that lakhs of medicines were being sold on the internet every day without much regulation, posing a huge risk to patients and doctors alike.